Latest
Academics seek pay for emails out of hours
A major union is using Labor’s new right to disconnect laws to scrap a “common practice” where casual academics do not get separately paid to be contacted outside of hours.
- David Marin-Guzman
- Exclusive
- University
Failure to rein in uni bosses led to problems of ‘excess’
Peter Coaldrake has been deeply involved in the university sector for five decades, the past four years as head regulator. And he is troubled by what is going on.
- Julie Hare
Employers back worker ‘choice’ in right to disconnect battle
The Australian Chamber of Commerce and Industry has warned against strict rights to disconnect in awards, saying it could affect enthusiastic staff.
- David Marin-Guzman
- Exclusive
- Industrial relations
Call to change bargaining laws as Sephora ‘sidesteps’ union
The retail union is pushing the government to change bargaining laws to stop employers from secretly sidelining unions to push through deals behind their back.
- Updated
- David Marin-Guzman
Budget relief comes on top of ‘decent’ wage rise: Chalmers
Treasurer Jim Chalmers has fought back against an employer push to use the budget’s cost-of-living relief to lower this year’s minimum wage increase.
- David Marin-Guzman
Countries wooing corporate digital nomads hope to make them stay
More countries have introduced a form of digital nomad visa since the pandemic increased demand from employees to “work from anywhere”.
- Emma Agyemang
Recent columns
How much fun should you have at work?
Jokes at work need to be deployed with skill and care. Yet, the best are glorious and the working world would be a far better place if we had a great deal more of them.
Columnist
Domestic violence is also a workplace issue
Governments should take the lead on the problem, but other groups can do more, including employers. Companies can achieve much more than many imagine.
Columnist
Business school blather can’t beat real-world CEO know-how
What’s needed is a new management theory that avoids the deceptive certainties of neoliberalism and the equally deceptive vagaries of stakeholder capitalism.
Contributor
Employees want more autonomy, so it’s in bosses’ interest to listen
Convinced that happier workers are also more productive, Australia’s most progressive employers are giving staff greater freedom and choice.
Work and careers reporter
More From Today
- Opinion
- Workplace culture
How much fun should you have at work?
Jokes at work need to be deployed with skill and care. Yet, the best are glorious and the working world would be a far better place if we had a great deal more of them.
- Pilita Clark
This Month
Sydney Uni wins appeal over academic dismissed over Nazi slide
Tough-talking university administrators are showing signs their patience is wearing thin, but police involvement is still a last resort.
- Julie Hare and Patrick Durkin
Why office worker Courtney became a tradie after watching The Block
Courtney Gibney wanted a hands-on job that didn’t involve sitting at a desk all day. The job security of being a licensed electrician fit the bill.
- Euan Black
Bosses say budget assistance justifies smaller minimum wage increase
Employers have invoked former union chief Bill Kelty to back a moderate pay rise, saying budget relief ensures low-paid workers’ disposable income will rise.
- David Marin-Guzman
Company has rare win over work bans that jacked up its power bill
Agribusiness giant Manildra has won orders to stop Endeavour Energy workers’ long-running industrial action after arguing it would cost millions of dollars in extra electricity costs.
- Updated
- David Marin-Guzman
How this intern turned paper-shuffling into a $3m start-up
Finnlay Morcombe found himself spending hours on a tedious but important task while on an internship. It turned into a fantastic business idea.
- Julie Hare
Supreme Court turns 200, with a didgeridoo salute
An Indigenous barrister and musician had lead roles in a ceremony to mark the bicentenary of the NSW Supreme Court.
- Michael Pelly
Westpac brings back time sheets for salaried staff up to $140k
Time recording for high-earners is becoming the new norm in the finance sector as firms guard against underpayments from excessive overtime. But some white-collar workers “hate it”.
- David Marin-Guzman
How Kmart is now more product maker than retailer
Kmart Group’s own brand has boomed, helping it deliver record profits. Its CEO says the low-cost goods chain is now more product maker than retailer.
- Patrick Durkin
‘End it now or we’ll call police’: Uni toughens up on protesters
Melbourne University says protesters ‘crossed a line’ when they occupied a building and warned they could be charged by police if they don’t leave immediately.
- Updated
- Julie Hare and Patrick Durkin
CFMEU blockade ‘drives up costs’ on state project
An allegedly illegal CFMEU blockade has cost a Queensland infrastructure project $300,000 and will cause weeks of delays, according to the principal contractor.
- David Marin-Guzman
Migration hit would ‘destroy’ $48b education export sector
Opposition Leader Peter Dutton’s plan to slash Australia’s annual permanent migrant intake from 185,000 to 140,000 would deliver a near fatal blow to the country’s fourth-largest export.
- Julie Hare
Why it’s harder to sack bad workers
HR managers say they are finding it increasingly difficult to dismiss employees even when they have fair and valid reasons because of provisions protecting staff who exercise workplace rights.
- Euan Black
The union movement is about to break into Aldi
Aldi’s long history of non-union pay deals has been disrupted as workers reject the supermarket giant’s offer for the first time in decades.
- David Marin-Guzman
- Exclusive
- Workplace
Grant Thornton adopts nine-day fortnight, but staff have to earn it
The accounting firm’s year-long trial coincided with record productivity, employee retention and profits.
- Euan Black
- Exclusive
- Israeli-Palestinian conflict
Go8 Universities agree to combat racism, uphold free speech
Australia’s oldest and most prestigious universities have set out five principles, as Deakin University prepares for a showdown with campus protesters.
- Patrick Durkin and Julie Hare
Adam Powick failed to make partner twice. Now he runs Deloitte
The chief executive says when people fail to get a promotion, they are often told they are doing a good job and should continue along the same path. He reckons that advice is “BS”.
- Ciara Seccombe and Lap Phan
A complex legend: Harold Mitchell farewelled by billionaires, underworld figures
Advertising guru and philanthropist Harold Mitchell has been celebrated as a “larger than life” but complex legend.
- Updated
- Patrick Durkin
Three Australian unis make it into new global top 100
The Universities of Melbourne, Sydney and NSW are in the latest Centre for World University Rankings, but there are concerns about the nation’s research output.
- Julie Hare
‘Horrible on every level’: Universities object to migration changes
Changes to limit the number of foreign students at educational colleges, universities and schools are highly interventionist and prescribe not only where students can study but what they can learn, providers said.
- Updated
- Julie Hare
